Prosecution should appeal court decision to grant full acquittal to Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman

GEORGE TOWN: The prosecution should appeal the Penang High Court's decision to grant former Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and businesswoman Phang Li Koon full acquittal of their corruption charges, senior lawyers here said. Datuk Ranjit Singh Dhillon said the appeal should be filed immediately now that the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) had also clarified that the prosecution had only sought a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNA) for the charges against both accused but the court had instead freed them. He said the AGC must do the right thing to protect the integrity of the institution in light of public backlash following what had happened. He said it was also the right thing for Tommy Thomas to do to preserve his integrity as the Pakatan Harapan-appointed Attorney-General. "The AGC has clarified that the prosecution had only asked for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal under provisions in Section 254(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code. It had not asked for a full acquittal. "The judge, however, granted a full acquittal instead. As such, the prosecution should lodge an appeal to the court immediately," he said.

Datuk Baljit Singh also echoed calls for the prosecution to appeal the court decision to free both accused. Pix by Ramdzan Masiam